In the field of telecommunications, interconnection refers to connections between carrier service providers for the physical linking of their networks. An interconnection between two carriers interconnects calls originating in one carrier's network and terminating in the other carrier's network and vice versa. Termination rates are rates that telecommunications carriers charge each other on a wholesale basis for terminating calls on their respective networks. An interconnection agreement between two carriers sets forth bilateral conditions for various terms, such as termination rates, capacity, carrier commitment, etc.
The explosion of voice and data traffic, as well as next generation networks, have created information overload, extra complexity and data exchange inefficiencies between the telecommunication carriers. The increasing complexity and volume of price lists, invoices, declarations, data formats and other business documents used in the interconnect business has created a paperwork nightmare for service providers. Electronic Termination Rate Agreements (known as “eTRA”) have been developed by standards bodies to drive toward open standards. To further standardize practices for electronic exchange of voice and data business information among wholesale carriers, the Global Business Exchange for Telecom (GBET) has been formed as a global consortium of carriers, such as Verizon, TeliaSonera, Deutsche Telecom, etc. These carriers work cooperatively to define standards with the aim of reducing administrative cost and the ambiguity for various transactions. Also formed is the Global Settlements Carrier (GSC) Group, which works to simplify accounting and invoicing, and enable business process development for the benefit of carriers globally, including carrier's billing and settlements.
Business-to-business platforms that enable telecommunication service providers to access and share business documents among trading partners are known. One such platform is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 8,359,400, which discloses a system and method for user-definable document exchange based on user-definable validation rules. Also, known are systems and methods for managing a carrier's interconnect traffic across a telecommunications network. On such system is called iXLink® developed by Telarix as disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 7,050,55. iXLink® creates a “Link” for relationships between pairs of carriers so that they can seamlessly communicate with an existing interconnect management system based on corresponding Link configurations. Business rules specific to each partner and/or service are applied to validate transactions, meet internal business objectives and capture errors so that time-stamped and validated documents can be exchanged electronically.
An e-contract is a contract modeled, specified, executed, controlled and monitored by a software system. Typically, a workflow management system is used for e-contract management. E-contracts are complex interrelated workflows that have to be specified to satisfy contract requirements. Frameworks to conceptualize e-contracts and model the complexity of interrelationships are known. One such framework is based on an entity-relationship (ER) model used in the design of database to reflect more precisely the properties and constraints found in more complex databases, such as in engineering design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM), telecommunications, complex software systems and geographic information systems (GIS).
Conventional manual processes for executing bilateral contracts amongst service providers result in delays due to incorrect data, back-and-forth communication, unsynchronized document exchange and conferences calls. Lack of adequate documentation has created an internal dilemma for management to account for network costs and business case justifications. As a result, the length of time and cost for getting signed and verified quotations and contracts has increased dramatically. Furthermore, conventional workflow models do not have the capabilities to handle the complexities of interrelationships in executing e-contracts amongst a large number of service providers having bilateral relationships. Therefore, there is exists a need for a system and method that facilitates exchange of documents between such service providers efficiently.